Manifold form-registering device for billing machines



April 13 1926. v

\ w. J. WISWALL MANIFOLD FORM REGISTERING DEVICE FOR BILLTNG MACHINES Filed August 1, 1922 5 Sheets-,Shet 1 gnu.

MANN INVENTOR. #31001 J May: BY x. 4'4 {9 v ATTORNEYS.

April 13 1926.

W. J. WISWALL MANIFOLD FORM REGISTERING DEVICE FOR BILLTNG MACHINES Fi-led August 1, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 EN TOR.

ATTO NEYS April 13 1926.

W. J. WISWALL MANIIFOLD FORM REGISTERING DEVICE FOR BILLTNG MACHINES Filed August 1, 1922. 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. WILLIAM J. MSW/ALL g g 7 46:" ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 13, I926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J'. WISWALL, OF OAKLAND,

BOOK COMPANY, LIMITED, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO,

ONTARIO, CANADA.

CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN SALES CANADA, A CORPORATION OF Application filed August 1, 1922. Serial No. 579,085.

To all whom ifmay concern..-

Be it known that I, VILLIAM' 'J. lVIswALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakland, county of California, Improvements in Manifold Form-Registering Devices for Billing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to manifolding form registering devices and more particularly to such devices for use with billing machines.

An object of this invention is to improve the form-retaining and registering mechai nism both structurally and functionally so as to facilitate the manipulation, and insure greater accuracy in the registry of the forms and greater convenience in handling the records. 7

3 Other objects of the invention will in part be'obvious and will in part appear hereinafter. v r

The invention accordingly comprises the I features of construction, combinations of 5 elements, andarrangement of parts,-which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which: Y

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a billing machine partly broken away showing the application of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail plan View of the carbon holder carriage showing. the registering l0 mechanism attached thereto;

Fig. 3 is a central,-vertical, longitudinal section on line 3-3, Fig. 2;

Fig. l'is a cross section on line 4-4, Fig.2; l5 Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the spring latch employed in conjunction with the locking barofthe registering mechanism; 'Fig. 6 is a detail view of the pin retracting pawl of the registering mechanism;

Fig. 7 is a cross section on line 77, F1g.

2, showing the registering mechanism and Alameda and State of have invented new and useful the character B the auxiliary frame adapted for sup ort of the forms.

-Th1s illing mach ne, has, as illustrated, a platen 2 mounted upon a carnage 3. ThIS platen is rotatable about a shaft 2, eccentric to it, from the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 8 to the position shown in dotted lines and is restrained from rotation by a lever 4 operating a catch 5 adapted to engage a screw 5 on the carriage support.

Extending rearwardly from the carriage are supporting rods 6 which are connected together by cross rods 6 and 6 to form an auxiliary carriage in turn supported by anti-- friction rollers 7* running upon transverse track bars 7, whereby the auxiliary carriage niaymove transversely to the frame with the carriage 3. Supported upon the auxiliary carriage is a carriage 8 upon. which the carbon blades are supported for movement toward the platen as the formsare filled in, and back again as a new set of forms is prepared, as will be later described. For the purpose of effecting this movement of the carbon blade carriage, there is provided a handle 9 attached to the carriage 8 as at 10.

Means are provided for feeding a plurality of printed forms through the device and maintaining the correct registry of the su perposed forms while passing through the machine. To this end there is preferably provided means. adapted automatically to align the forms on the completion of the opc ation on each form, anism and. web supply are so designed and corelated that this registry is maintained during the filling-in operation.

This mechanism comprises a manually 0pcrated registering device, generally indicated at 11, and an automatically actuated registering device, generally indicated at 12, and

and the feeding mech these devices are preferably so interrelated 7 forms and means associated with each form as for example, control apertures 17, in definite relation to each printed form, so that exact registry of the forms may be secured by cooperation of the machine with said apertures.

Within certain aspects of this invention any suitable source of web supply may be used but particular advantages are obtained when a sufli'cient number of webs to form the desired number of records are superposed with the sheets folded back and forth upon each other in a zigzag fashion to form superposed sets of superposed record sheets. This folding is preferably done at the weakened portion separating the sheets. In this manner each sheet tends normally to lie in flat condition while in use while the interengagement of sheets in the pad causes them to tend to be fed together and in registry. As illustrated such a pad is provided at 19 and the various superposed webs thereof are fed to the machine together as will be hereinafter described.

The manual registering mechanism comprises a plate '20 extending, when in operative position, generall upward and to the rear from the upper side of the platen, and a head member comprising a cross plate 21 clamped to the underside of the plate 20 by a bar 24, held in place by clamping screws 23. This cross plate 21 carries pins 25 in 5 position to correspond with the control apertures 17 in the web and' the plate 20 has slots 22 through which the pins 25 and the .screws 23'may project to permit the adjustment of the registering member 11 upon the plate 20 in accordance with the length 01 the form upon the web.

For the purpose of retaining the sheets upon the pins 25 a clamp 26 is spring-hinged as shown at 28, and extends over and presses upon the sheets; it is provided with a handle 27, to assist in its manipulation.

A handle 29 is providedupon the bar 24 tofacilitate adjustment of the head.

The automatic registerin mechanism is arranged to move with the s eets during the filling in operation and to be moved relative to the sheets in preparing for the filling in of another form and to this end it is conveniently attached to the carbon blade carriage 8. As illustrated it comprises a plate 31 extending rearwardly from the carbon blade carriage 8 and attached thereto by clamping screws 30. Beneath the plate 31 is a cross bar 32 carrying aligning pins 34 in position to cooperate with the control apertures 17 of the web. This bar 32 is mounted on guides 33 for movement to and from the plate 31 to cause the-pins to be retracted and project through orifices 34 in the plate 31 and springs 33 surrounding guides 33 cause the pins to be projected upwardly through the orifices 34 unless otherwise restrained.

For the purpose of retracting the pins a lever C is pivoted at 36 to the plate 31 in position to bear downwardly upon the bar 32 and has an operating arm 37 extending downwardly and to the rear in position to engage a trip rod D upon the auxiliary carriage as the carbon blade carriage travels toward the billing machine during the fill ing in of a form.

lVith this construction it will be clear that once the pins have entered the apertures in a sheet, they, together with the carbon blade carriage, will travel with the webs until the arm 37, engages the trip rod D, whereupon the pins will be withdrawn to permit the movement of the webs independent of the pins 34.

In order to permit the adjustment of the trip rod D to the length of the particular form to be filled in it is arranged to be movably attached tothe rods 6. As illustrated it comprises a cross rod extending between the two rods 6, with its ends bearing upon them respectively as at 38 and 39 and so that it may be clamped between them. As arranged, a stud is attached to a contact member 38 on which the sleeve D may rotate and a corresponding stud is attached'to the member 39 which is screw-threaded into 3 the end of the sleeve D whereby the rotation of the sleeve D upon the two studs will prg ect the member 39 to clamp between ro s 6.

Cooperating with the plate 31 and 'the .pins 34 1s a clamping bar 42 hinged-at one end as shown at 44 and having a latch 45 at the other end, whereby it may be swung from a position to cooperate with the pins to a position to expose them as shown in Figure 7 and this rod may conveniently be in the form of a tube having openings through its walls as shown at 44 to receive the ends of the pins 34.

.Suitable side guides 43 may be provided upon theplate'31 to maintain the alignment and the handle extension 29 is grasped to ous zigzag folded sheets wardly between swing the plate 20 and the platen in a forward directionto assume the dotted line position shown in Fig. 8. ment of the gauge plate elevates the'platen releasing its feed and thereby places it in a position to permit the several superposed sheets to be easily entered. The clamping bar 42 of the automatic registering device is next released and completely opened. The carbon blade carriage 8 is moved to the position shown in Fig. 1 by means of the handle '9 and the machine 1S then ready to receive the printed forms. I

The zigzag folded book, indicated at 19, is placed behind the auxiliary frame, as shown in Fig. 1, and the free ends of thecontinuare passed through the primary paper guide on'the intermediate carriage as indicated at 50. The sheets are next passed over the plate 31, care be-. ing taken that the sheets are passed downthe side guides '43. The

sheets are then pulled in a forward direction j until one or two sets of forms have passedthe pins 34, or in other words until the ins 34 register with the punched holes'17' o the second or third set of forms as shown in Fig. 10. The pins 34 are then passed through the punched portions 17 a of the sev eral superposed forms and the clamping bar p 42 is swung back into position and locked by means of the spring latch 45.

webs are now turned back over The upper bar in order to permit a carthe clamping bon blade carrying its carbon sheet to over- The adjustment lie the'lower web. webs may then be caused to alternate, the carbon blades being attached to the carbon blade, carriage in any convenient manner.

The free or forward ends of the superposed forms with the carbon sheets interposed between them are now grasped and passed-between the cylindrical laten 2 and cutting plate 60. The late 20 1s thereupon returned to its-norma position carrying with itthe platen 2 to cooperate with the rest of the billing machine feed mechanism. The filling in of the forms may then be done, the webs being fed by the rotation of the platen.

To bring a new set of forms into position upon the completion of the'filling in,.the webs are carried up over plate 20 until the control apertures 17 in the advance end thereof may be impaled upon the pins 25.to be held in placeby the clamp 26.

of the head 24- should be such that the lower edge of the first form is now opposite'the cutting edge of the cutti bar 60. The adjustment of the trip rod the webs in t is posi- This forward move- I The carbon sheets and.

the carbon sheets from" registry with the filled-in form, to the next succeeding form,

the control aper-v until the pins 34 engage tures 17 of the 'next succeeding sheets and the carbon blade carriage engages the stop 7 0. It is preferable that the control apertures be engaged sligthly in advance of the stop in order that the sheets be placed un er slight strain to straighten them, and it will be noticed that the sheets are at this time stretched straight between the two aligning mechanisms.

The plate 20 may now be returned to its normal position, the webs disengaged from the pins 25, across the cutting blade ready for the filling in of the next form. I

By the above construction it will be clear that the several webs are held in alignment during the filling-in operation and caused to advance together with the carbon sheets all "as a single sheet and they are held in this clamped osition by the pins 34 until the fillingdn is completed. They are thereupon again clamped in registeringposition bythe ms 25 and held in registry by thesepinS until the filling-in of the preceding form is completed.

Furthermore, carbon blade carriage to'the next succeeding set of forms, it will be noted that as'soon as the retracting action has commenced, the leduring the retraction of the handle 9 and moved to the rear withdrawing i and the filled-informstorn oif ver '37 being out of engagement with the trip rod D, the pins 34 are projected into the pathway of the web and bear frictionally against it to bring it under tension, and in co-operation with the straighten out any irregularitiesor wrinkles that may be in it. .VVhen the pins 34 reach and penetrate the control apertures they may engage them at the sides thereof to bring the webs under tension and it is to be noted that at this time that by reason of the position of the platen, the webs are substantially straight between the pins 25 and the pins 34. Thus each web is stretched substantially independently of the others between the control apertures to bring .it into exact alignment. Furthermore, the stop 70 is positioned to cooperate to check retraction of the carriage'S somewhat after the pins 25 are automatically projected to engage the apertures so as to brin the superposed sheets intolongitudinal a ignment, without however. exerting suchforce as to tear the edges of the control a ertures.' It will be evi e'nt furthermore that at the time the pins are bearing upon the webs in the reverse movement to straighten out the forms they are bearing at a point where the webs are not in contact with the carbon sheets. Furthermore, by reason of the fact that a web supply is utilizedinwhich the different printed forms are at all times in register and from which they are fed to the billing machine in register there is no danger of oneweb creeping so far upon another to bring the control apertures in the one web out of alignment with those of the other.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accom-' panying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a. limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention.

herein descri ed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: I

1. In a machine of the class described, comprising, in combination, a plurality of strips having successive forms printed therefeed has been made.

In a machine of the class described,

. on and control apertures in definite relation to the forms, a platen, printing mechanism, means for moving said strips relative to said printing mechanism, a uide member over which said strips are fed, pins upon which the apertures in a set of forms may be impaled, said pins, said platen, and said guide member being relatively movable from a position to support said strips between said pins and said guide member, to a position to bring said strips substantially into contact with said platen.

2. In. a machine of the class described, comprising, in combination, a plurality of strips having forms printed thereon and control apertures bearing definite relation to said forms, a carbon carriage, pins associated with said carbon carriage, spring-pressed to engage when unrestrained said strips and penetrate said apertures to bring said forms 4 into registry, and automatic means for withdrawing said pins when a predetermined comprising, in combination, a plurality of superposed strips having forms printed thereon and apertures in definite relation to said forms, a pair of elements adapted to enter apertures in different sets of forms, one of said elements being movable away from the other to stretch said strips.

4. In a machine of the class described, the

filled in forms and retaining the forms in alignment during the return movement of the carbon carriage, and means carried by the carbon carriage adapted to penetrate the apertures of a succeeding set of forms during return movement of the carbon carriage, and to align the adjacent superposed printed forms. 7

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination with. the carbon carriage and the cylinder carriage of a billing machine I which carriages are adapted to receive and support aseries of continuous superposed sheets having successive forms printed thereon and control apertures bearing definite relation to said forms, said carbon carriage being adapted to advance in unison with t form sheets while. they are being typed upon, a means for manually returning the carbon carriage when a set of forms has been filled in, means on the cylinder carriage for entering and aligning the apertures of the filled in forms and retaining the forms in alignment durin the return movement of the carbon carriage and means carried by the carbon carriage adapted to penetrate the apertures of a succeeding set of forms during return movement of the carbon carriage and to ali the adjacent superposed printed forms, said last mentioned means being adapted to exert a longitudinal pull upon the sheets. ,o

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination with the carbon carriage and the cylinder carriage of a billing machine, which carriages are adapted to receive and support a series ofcontinuous superposed sheets having successive forms printed thereon'and control apertures bearing definite relation to said forms, said carbon carriage being adapted to advance in unison with the form sheets while they are being typed upon, a means for manually returning the carbon carriage when a set of forms has been filled in, means on the cylinder carriage for entering and aligning the aperturesof the filled in forms and retaining the forms in alignment during the return movement of the carbon carria e, means carried vby the carbon carriage a apted to penetrate the apertures of a succeedlng set of forms during return movement of the carbon carriage and to p of the carriage.

2 g the carriage align the adjacent superposed printed forms, said last mentioned means being adapted to exert a longitudinal pull upon the sheets, and a stop to limit the movement of the carbon carriage to limit said pull.

7 In a machine of the class described, in combination, a carbon carriage, paper strips, a platen, aligning pins on the carriage for engaging control apertures in the paper strips to hold them in registry as they are drawn toward the platen, means controlled by the forward movement of the carriage for releasing the pins and means for holding the pins for engaging the apertures to hold the strips during the return movement 8. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a carriage having means for supporting and advancing superpose d strips provided. with control apertures, a second carriage mounted to travel on the first men 'tioned carriage with the strips, pinson the second mentioned carriage for engaging the' control apertures in the strips to -hol 'the strips in alignment, and for constraining the second mentioned carriage to travel with the strips, normally active means to extend the pins, means controlled by the forward movement of the second mentioned carriage for retracting theipins so they are disen aged from the control apertures to permit t 'e re? turn movement of the second mentioned,- carriage, and other pins supported by the first mentioned carnage for engaging the control apertures to hold the strips during the return movement of the second mentioned carriage.

9. In a machine of .the class described, comprising, .in combination, a support for a plurality of strips having successive forms printed thereon and control apertures in definite relation to the forms, a guide member over which said strips may be passed, means for retaining the ends of said strips including pins adapted to project through the control apertures of the end form, a carriage movable with and contrary to the strips carrying pinsadapted. to cooperate with the control apertures to retain the stri s in alignment, and means for automatical y releasing said' pins to permit their reverse.- movement when said strips have moved a predetermined distance.

10. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a carriage having means to support and advance paper strips provided with control apertures, a second carriage, normally active ins on" the second carriage for engaging t e control apertures and means controlled by forward movement of with the strips to release the pins.

11. In a machine of the class described, in

combination, a carriage jhavin' means to support a d advance paper strips provided with control apertures, a second carriage, normally active pins on the second carriage for enga ing the. control apertures, means controlle b forward movement of the carriage with the strips to release the. pins, and

a removable guard for the free ends of the pins to facilitate threading of the strips. 12. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a frame, a carriage havin means to support and advance superposed strips of paper having control apertures, a second carriage mounted to travel with the strips, pins on the second carriage for enthe carbon I ed to receive and support a series of con tinuous superposed sheets having successively arranged forms printed thereon and control apertures in definite relation tov said forms, means for automatically advancing the carbon blade carriage in unison with the form sheets while they are being typed upon, means for manually returning the carbon blade carriage, a form registering device supported by. the carbon blade carriage, and means for automatically releasmg said form registering devlce when the forms being filled in or typed upon are completed, said means also adapted to antomatically re-engage the form sheet and laterally and longitudinally align the same during return movement of the carbon blade carriage.

'14. The combination with the carbon blade carriage of a billinglmachine, of a plate supported thereby, a pair of pins pro-' jecting through the plate, a clampingbar extending across the plate and cooperating with the pins, andmeans for automatically projecting and retracting the pins with relation to the plate during forward and return movement of the carbon blade carriage.

15. The combination with the carbon blade carriage of a billing machine, of a platesupported thereby, a pair of pins projectin through the plate, a-clamping bar exten ing across the late and cooperating with the pins, means jecting and retracting the pins with relation to the" plate durin forward and return movement of the car on blade carriage, and

adjustable means-for regulating the period rendering said orm registering device inoperative when the holder substantially orautomatically pro-f the holder, and means for reaches the limit of its forward movement, said means also automatically rendering the registering device operative during return upon which said holder is longitudinally movable, a plate supported by the holder, a pair of form aligning pins on said plate, a triplever on the plate adapted to depress the pins with relation to the plate, a trip bar on the carriage engageable with the trip lever to automatically depress and project the pins, and a clampin bar pivotally attached to the plate strad ling and cooperating with the pins.

19. In a machine of the class described, comprising, in combination a support for a plurality of superposed strips having forms thereon and control apertures bearing definite relation to said forms, a carbon carriage movable with and independent of said strips for carrying carbon sheets, pins associated with said carbon carriage adapted to engage said control apertures to retain said strips in ali nment during motion with said I carriage an means for automatically withdrawing said pins on the completion of the filling in of said forms.

20. Ina machine of the class described, comprising, in combination, a platen, a support for a plurality of superposed strips aving control apertures therein, said platen being movable into and out of engagement with said strips, a carbon carriage movable with and independent of said strips for carrying carbon sheets, means associated. with said carbon carriage adapted to engage said control apertures to retain said strips in alignment during motion with a said carriage and adapted yieldingly to engage said strips during motion of said carria e contrary to said strip for smoothing sai strips.

21. In a machine in the class described in combination, a plurality of strips having forms printed thereon and control apertures in definite relation to said forms, means for feeding said strips, a carriage movable with and contrary to said strips, havin pins thereon, means for projecting sai pins through said control apertures and for withdrawing them, means for operating said last mentioned meansupon completion of p determ ned f e ng m ement to and clam ertures, mechanism operative to depress said pins, a trip to operate said mechanism to depress'said pins when a predetermined point in the feed has been reached, a gauge having pins so ositioned relative to said trip that when t e perforations of one set of forms are placed upon said pins the sheet will be held in registry in position such that on return movement of the carriage the spring pressed pins will not reenter the same perforations when said pinoperating mechanism is disengaged by said trip. s

23. In a ,machine of the character described, in combination, means for simultaneously feeding superposed sheets each having similar forms positioned therealong and having a series of control apertures therein bearin definite relation to said forms, a mova le carriage for supporting said superposed sheets and advancing with said sheets during feeding movement thereof, and a pin on said carriage and engaging in said apertures to maintain the sheets in longitudinal thereof.

24. In a machine of the character described, in combination, means for simultaneously feeding superposed sheets each having similar forms positioned therealong and having a series of control apertures therein bearin definite relation to said forms, a mova le carriage for supporting said superposed sheets and advancing with said sheets durin feeding movement thereof, a pin on sai carriage and engaging in said apertures to maintain the sheets in lon gitudinal alignment during feeding thereof,

alignment during feeding.

means to positively hold the forwardly fed 7 parts of said sheets, said carriage being returnable to initial position after a forward feeding movement thereof, and said pin being engageable in said apertures to effect longitudinal ali nment of said forms on the superposed sheets when the carriage is returned to initial position and while said forwardly fed parts are held by said holdin means.

25. In a machine of the character described, in combination, means for simultaneously feeding superposed sheets each having similar forms positioned therealong,

a movable carriage for supporting said superposed sheets and advancing with said sheets during feeding thereof, means to posi tively hold the forwardly fed. parts of said sheets, and means on said carriage to effect longitudinal alignn'ieutof said sheets when the forwardly fed parts thereof are held by said holding means.

26. In a machine of the character do scribed, in combination, means for simultaneously feeding superposed sheets each having similar forms positioned therealong, members for simultaneously positively engaging said sheets at longitudinally spaced parts thereof to eflfect longitudinal alignv ment of the forms on the superposed sheets, I and a movable supporting member for sup-' porting one of said sheet engaging members normally out of alignment with the other sheet engaging member but being movable to bring the stretch of sheets between said sheet engaging members into a substantially straight line.

27. In a machine of the character described, in combinatiom means for simultaneously feeding superposed sheets each having similar forms positioned therealonm a movable carriage for supporting said superposed sheets and advancing with said sheet during feeding thereof, and means for positively attaching said sheets to said carriage during feeding of the sheets.

WILLIAM J. vWISVALL. 

